Mullaperiyar Dam is brewing up as a major controversy in Kerala as politicians and spirituals cautioning the State Government about the possibilities of the 126 year old reservoir caving in becoming more vocal from the local communities. P C George, seven-term member of the Kerala Legislative Assembly who is also a veteran farmer expressed his anguish over the silence maintained by the CPI(M) and Congress leaders in the State and their failure to speak to Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin about the safety aspects of the dam.
Swami Chaithanyaananda Saraswthi, a monk of Sree Vyasa Ashram in Idukki exhorted Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan to effectively use his Constitutional power to convince the Tamil Nadu Government about ground realities.
“There is a strong feeling about the population in Kerala that the leaders of the CPI(M) and the Congress are hiding something from the people. The silence of Kerala Chief Minister Vijayan and Leader of the Opposition V D Satishan is shocking. They are afraid of their Tamil Nadu counterparts,” said George.
He said Tamil Nadu has nothing to lose in the eventuality of a disaster in Mullaperiyar. “But 45 lakh people residing in the five districts of Kerala will perish in the resultant deluge. It is a reality that stares at us,” said the popular politician.
Last week and early this week saw Tamil Nadu opening the shutters of the dam without informing the Kerala authorities. Since the onset of the North East Monsoon, most days see heavy downpour in the catchment area of Mullaperiyar Dam and the lakhs staying along the banks of Periyar River are in a state of fear.
The Mullaperiyar Dam, owned and operated by Tamil Nadu Government is situated well inside Kerala territory. The dam was built in 8600 acres of forest land belonging to the then princely State of Travancore. Modern historians arue of the view that the agreement between the then British Government and the Maharaja of Travancore was a fraud committed on the latter by the former. “The lease period of the dam constructed as per the 1886 agreement was for 999 years which itself is dubious,” said P Sujathan, historian and seasoned commentator.
Tamil Nadu Government’s refusal to allow the release of the internationally acclaimed film “Dam 999” speaks volume about the concern of the Dravidian politicans in hiding the truth, said George. “The move was released all over the world except Tamil Nadu in 2011. The State administration is extending the ban on this movie under the pretext of law and order issues,” said George. The producer of the movie Sohan Roy told The Pioneer that efforts were on to release the Tamil version through OTT platform.